Though a full third of the nation is poorly educated are they without common sense, too? -- hardly. Common sense, however, is constantly bombarded with the amoral static and sophistry of the right wing, such as: Every one should be free to pursue the American dream of wealth -- without stating the odds are equivalent to winning the lottery -- let alone the ultimate dream of good health, happiness and helping the less fortunate. Fifty percent of Americans own stock therefore com...
Brad Wardell pointed out in one his recent articles on the character of America, that the federal government is but a small part of governance compared to all that is done on state and local levels. This is not an isolated view among conservatives who still carry the vestige of rugged individualism in their hearts pumping through their veins governmental malnutrition as though the US were just any country advocating the law of power, rather than enlightened, constitutional law. That locals have ...
In the fifties the slogan for Big Business was “What’s good for General Motors is good for the country.” The inference, of course, is that the largest company and employer is bound to have a beneficial effect on the economy in profits, growth, improving wages and growth of the middle class to sustain business activity. Today this economic concept is lost. “What’s good for Wal-Mart is not necessarily good for the country.” For the implication here is that this current largest company and emp...
I was embarrassed during the 2000 campaign when the Democrats kept harping on the soaring DOW, which to the average person means very little since the books are always cooked to suit the whims of the time. The millions of modest stockholders that politicians are always heralding possess a piece of the action by pensions mainly in mutual funds which seem never to rise or fall very much. There are scandals, of course, where a corrupt company cajole employees to invest in their employer, such as ...
“Yankee Go Home” doesn’t apply to South Korea where only a half year ago its citizens demonstrated against our 37,000 troops stationed there — what with the north’s incessant provocation. After fifty years the south is nevertheless more than a match against its neighbor despite its larger army but poorly equipped. Even though South Korea spends ten times what the north does in armament — $320 per capita, or 3.4 percent of its GNP — it could fortify itself independent of the US, except for a n...
Some crucial items on the political campaign agenda should cover: 16) Raise the minimum wage rate one dollar each year for the next three years and legislate cost of living index thereafter. 17) Fund a public education overseas TV channel in foreign languages giving an objective account of democracy at work. 18) Develop a peace project for the western hemisphere stressing the need to replace dictatorships and oppression with democratic objectives. 19) Assist in mor...
Some crucial items on the political campaign agenda should cover: 1) A voluntary civilian defense corps made up of primarily school drop-outs, and high school students not college-bound and senior citizens for nominal stipend; this corps would be organized and supervised by local enforcement agencies and paid for by Homeland Security. 2) Incentives should target the national guard to recruit more for the express purpose of border patrol. 3) Appropriations should be increa...
During these primaries the exchange has been more about the economy than the war. The bleak picture the Democratic candidates paint is echoed by many of the Democratic faithful who feel for those affected by job loss and outsourcing. To the Republican faithful, however, this scenario flies in the face of a stock market rebounding that is attributed to the tax cuts. Most Republicans voters are of the unscathed middle class and higher and don’t care about factory-shut downs or the exodus of job...
The old cry that communism equally degrades everyone to little above serfdom could conceivably be apropos to the current economic strategy of corporations in search of minimal labor costs abroad. Conservatives and Clinton Democrats as well argue that it is logical to continue relentlessly free trade since they claim it creates jobs here, too. What they don’t tell you is what kind of jobs are created here. Free trade generates flea markets, dollar store, auto foreign parts outlets, Wal-Marts an...
In the nation’s quest to leave no child behind, the politicians are admitting that indeed there are children left behind. In the spirit of the land of opportunity, the nation is ostensibly bent on bringing up to par the nation’s children by impossible tests that have nothing to do with the reality — a term more than ever blurred by “reality” TV — which everyone knows has to do with the child’s home environment, the child’s DNA, the schooling of the parents, the disrepair of the school attended, ...
“We follow too easily, question authority too little. We cannot allow ourselves to go abroad again with guns. I do not trust our society enough to hold back.” No, this is not a protester of the war, or Howard Dean. Still, it would serve us well to heed these words in light of the cacophony of disinformation filling the foul atmosphere of our foreign policy, regardless of its quasi-humanitarian efforts to sanitize parts of the world of their totalitarian leanings. We have the UN to do th...
Until I learned otherwise from Paul Farbi of the “Washington Post”, I was sympathetic toward Joe Trippi when Howard Dean replaced him as campaign manager in favor of Gore’s boy. After all, thought I, Joe had successfully made Howard a household name, even though his strategy led to Dean’s peaking much too early. However, it appears that Joe Trippi indiscriminately ran Dean TV ads to the tune of $300,000 as early as last June, seven months before a ballot was cast in Iowa’s caucus. In Au...
“The earth belongs to each… generation during its course, fully and in its own right. The second generation receives it clear of the debts and incumbrances of the first, the third of the second, and so on. For if the first could charge it with a debt, then the earth would belong to the dead and not to the living generation. Then, no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter from Paris, September 6, 1789
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According Andrew Somers, president of Drug Action Network site perceives the drug war is going nowhere and analogous to pre-prohibition and that certain drugs should be definitely legalized: “For instance, comparative analysis of even the most pessimistic studies of marijuana show it to be safer and more benign than alcohol. Therefore it's easy to see marijuana regulations mirroring those for beer and wine.” He acknowledges there are differences in narcotics and suggests: “Har...
In a hedonistic society a sin tax such as proposed on smokers is arguably the preferred way—more so as a disincentive to smoke than as revenue enhancement for a health plan. And if this is indeed the case, then why is there not a heavier sin-tax on gambling, drinking and drugging as a disincentive rather than revenue enhancement? Because the existing sin tax is precisely revenue enhancement and further levies could actually jeopardize consumption, resulting in less revenue. Since vices are a...